Saturday, February 16, 2013

Hookworms are a five piece based in Leeds who are poised to release 'Pearl Mystics' in just over a weeks time. This debut full length follows two singles on Gringo Records where the clan offer up nine tracks of foggy psychedelia that give a nod to Sun Araw and Spacemen 3. I got to catch up with them about 'Pearl Mystics' and a few other things too...

Let’s start with your upcoming debut album on Gringo, how
did you come to work with the label?

MB: Matt who runs the label released our last 2 records
which both turned out great and sold out, so when it came to who should put the
LP out it was a pretty easy decision. Matt has released some of our favourite
UK records of the last 15 years (Bilge Pump, Wolves of Greece, Ox Scapula, That
Fucking Tank etc), and is continuing to release amazing records by our friends
like Cold Pumas, Sauna Youth, Broken Arm, Grey Hairs and Vision Fortune.You guys recorded and produced it in MJ’s Suburban Home studio, what was the
setup?

MB: We practice at Suburban Home as well, so it was a case of recording demos
of tracks as we wrote them, then listening back and changing bits here and
there until we were happy with the basic structures of the songs. There are some
pretty mammoth demo versions of some of the tracks. I think we clocked a 20
minute version of Away/Towards in its earliest incarnation. We spent a weekend
laying down the bass and drums for the whole record at the end of 2011, and then
the rest of the overdubs were done sporadically over a 6 month period in the
first half of 2012, whenever there was free time at the studio. A lot of the
mixing was done in the middle of the night when no one was around, and we’d
often wait for the cake factory workers adjacent to the studio to finish work
so we could re-amp tracks down the huge corridor outside, which we used as a
make-shift reverb chamber. MJ can probably go into more technical depth, if
that’s what you meant.

I wanted to run through the tracks and see if you could tell us a little about
each one:
“Away / Towards”MB: In my head this track is split into 3 different sections. There’s the
atmospheric build up at the start, the organ-driven motorik in the middle, and
our attempt at a VU/Modern Lovers pop song at the end.MJ: Lyrically this song is split in two (signified by the duel names). It's a
reflection on loss and the way we can chase something that doesn't exist
anymore or how we can push ourselves away in denial.“Form And Function”MB: This is the oldest song on the album; we had previously recorded a different
version of it for a split 7” with Kogumaza. I much prefer this take on it
though, it’s a bit more up-tempo, and we actually wrote an intro for this one.
The old recording just kind of faded in because we didn’t really know how to start
it. I’m a big fan of SS’s guitar playing at the end of this track.

MJ: Big fan of the kick sound on this track.“I”MJ: I can't remember how I did this, sorry. Probably with loads of pedals at
three in the morning.“In Our Time”MB: I came up with the main bass line that repeats throughout the song, and MJ
wrote the organ chord progression that makes up the “verses”, and we glued the
two sections together. There is a definite Pure X influence on this song, we’re
collectively big fans of their LP “Pleasure”. JW recorded layers and layers of
guitar feedback in different keys, and MJ stacked them all up to create this
wonderful wall of noise, almost like a guitar symphony, which drones throughout the
entire song. Our friend Jack from the band Mazes dubbed this song and What We
Talk About “drone-soul”, which I thought was great. The call and response
backing vocals at the end of the song are one of my favourite parts of the
album.MJ: Yeah, I recorded JW feed backing in different notes and then pieces them
together into chords. I actually wrote the 'song' for this for my Family Scraps
solo project, but it worked so well with the bass line MB brought that we used
it for this instead.“Since We Had Changed”MB: Possibly the song I’m proudest of on the album. It started off as quick
acoustic jam we knocked together for a live BBC session, but we thought we’d
try it out for the album and see how it went. At one point I think we were
heavily leaning towards scrapping it completely, but then we re-amped sections
of it down the corridor outside the studio that I mentioned before, and the
reverb completely brought it to life. That was a total “woah” moment for
everyone in the studio, it really changed the song. We’ll probably never be
able to play it live, there’s a load of stuff on there like acoustic 12-string
through tape delay, sitar, backwards plucked piano etc.MJ: I hated this until that day we re-amped everything. Now it's my favourite
part of the record. I was dreaming of Tower Recordings.“Preservation”MB: This is the second oldest song on the record. We’d been playing this live
for quite a while before we started the album, so it was pretty straightforward
to record. We tried a few different things out like some Stooges-y claps to
accentuate the weirdo “I Want Candy” drum beat, but we decided against it. We managed
to squeeze in some John Cale-style piano being hammered in the background ala
“I’m Waiting For the Man”/”I Wanna Be Your Dog” though.

“ii”MJ: The oscillating sound on this section is something (can't remember what)
being run into a spring reverb over and over and over until it was un-recognisable.
I recorded rain in a puddle for this. Probably a low moment.

“What We Talk About”MB: We were originally talking about trying to get some gospel singers on this
for the backing vocal part, but we thought it might be a bit over the top. MJ
layered up his own little one-man choir anyway, and it sounds great. Our friend
Andy Moore played some trumpet at the end of the track to give it a Stones-y
gospel/soul vibe.MJ: Me and MB recorded most of this song as a demo one afternoon. Pretty sure
we kept everything from that session except the vocals and bass take.“iii”MJ: I wrote and recorded this one night with two amps pulsing in stereo in the
live room. I sat between them and played most of this live with a couple of
synths and a monotron.The artwork looks awesome, where did the image come from?MB: JW “found” and doctored it with a scanner, as well as changing the colour
to the“pearl mystic” shade of turquoise that gave the album it’s name. I’m half
expecting us to get sued by whoever took the photograph once the album is
released.

What are some of your favourite album covers?

MB: I like a lot of 60’s record sleeves with the bands
posing on the front, but only because I know we could never be cool enough to
pull something like that off in a million years. Stuff like the first Stooges
record, the first Creedence record, Back in the USA, and that Count Five album
where they’re all stood round the edge of a grave.MJ: hate to be a cliche, but pretty much anything by Raymond Pettibon is up my
street.

Do you guys prefer playing or recording?

MB: Probably recording, I don’t think there’s a feeling in
the world like when a record starts to come together. It’s a different kind of rush
when you’re playing a fun show.MJ: Recording. It's my favourite thing in the world.

What’s been the most fun you’ve had playing a show so far?

MB: I always have loads of fun playing in Brighton; everyone
is really friendly. We did a couple of shows for our friend Andy Auld who used to
run Sex is Disgusting that stand out in my head. One supporting The Men at the
Prince Albert, which was one of the first times we’d played some of the new
songs off the new album live, and one at the Green Door Store which I think was
the last ever Sex is Disgusting show. A strobe light was turned on halfway through the first song which we weren’t expecting.
I don’t think I’ve ever played a set with a strobe light in my face for the
entire thing, you start seeing things. I have no idea how bands like Vision
Fortune do it for every show they play, I spent the whole time worrying it was
going to trigger a fit, which probably gave the whole thing an edge.MJ: I enjoyed Liverpool Psych Fest. We played the main stage at midnight straight
after Dead Skeletons. I was genuinely surprised when people stayed for our set.

Most memorable show you’ve watched?

MB: Probably Pissed Jeans in the upstairs room of The Fenton
in Leeds a few years back. I don’t think anyone’s feet were touching the floor.MJ: Yep, Pissed Jeans at The Fenton, The Wrens at The Rescue Rooms in Nottingham
or the first time I saw Mob Rules do that really long track off their LP.

How would you spend your perfect day off?

MB: Listening to records, reading a book, nice walk in the
countryside and a couple of ales.MJ: Even on my days off from my job as a recording engineer I go to my studio.
There's nothing else I'd rather be doing.
What else is coming up for Hookworms in 2013?

MB: We’re doing a few shows in February running up to the
album launch in Leeds on February 23rd, and then there’s going to be a proper “album
tour” in April. We have a few other releases in the pipeline already too. There
should be a 7” for the Too Pure singles club out in May, and hopefully a vinyl
re-release of the Live Vol.2 CD/DVD which came out last year. There weren’t
many copies of that because the sleeves were all handmade, so it’d be nice for everyone to be able hear and see
it. There’s some other stuff too, but I don’t want to jinx them just yet.

I tend to finish interviews by asking - "I'm full of dust and
guitars" - Syd Barret, if you were sliced in half what would be inside?
But for you guys maybe the clue is in the name?

Monday, February 11, 2013

Exhaustion are Australian three piece Duncan Blachford (Snawklor, Cross Brothers), Jensen Tjhung (Deaf Wish, Lower Plenty) and Per Bystrom (Ooga Boogas, Leather Towel). Their debut 'Future Eaters' on Aarght! just started streaming last week on Mess+Noise and is fast becoming a favourite in this parts. These eight new songs play out prowling guitars, howling vocals, crashing rhythms and gulping bass transmitted through a wall of murky fuzz and distortion. It all comes together in a way that brings bands like Les Rallizes Denudes and Fuckin' Flyin' Aheads to mind whilst testing the limits of where that paranoid/brooding free-noise sound can go. I got to talk to Duncan to find out more about the record, here's what he had to say...

Most of us are just
finding out about Exhaustion now through this record out on Aarght! Being
a relatively new band, I wanted to ask if there’s a goal/message in this project
that you wanted to tell us about…

If I had a
goal it would be to destroy, or attain peace with, the world and the mundane
nature of a working life. As a band, our goal is to create music we're proud
of. We're happy with this record, we can retire now.

When I was goo­­gling
to learn a bit more about the band I only found 2 search results for
Exhaustion… it’s a great name, surprised no one’s ever really used it – how was
it picked?

It was very
literal, a feeling of pure exhaustion. Typographically, I like it, when its
treated right its monumental. Exhaustion and détournement, that's all that is
left in this world.

How did recruiting
Jensen Tihung and Per Bystrom for the band come about?

I met Jensen when he working in a dive bar. He's one of the few people
who ordered everything I put out on my label,Endless Melt. So he seemed the
natural go-to guy. He'd never played bass before, I hadn't played much guitar.
A good pairing.

Per heard
some of my early solo recordings (Drunk Hands)
and offered to drum if I wanted to start a band. It didn’t happen till now. He
carts round all this scrap metal with his kit, a one man swedish Pussy Galore.

You did a tour of the
US in 2008 was this as Exhaustion? How did those shows go?

That was
another band I played drums in. At the time, it was four friends and an asshole
soundguy, on the road for nine weeks. Played most nights, driving around North
America, crashing on couches and in cheap motels. It was fantastic. I felt at
home being on the move.

I was listening to
one of your other bands Snawklor – the songs I heard sounded pretty ethereal,
did you ever think you’d start a band like Exhaustion that was the polar
opposite with this big damaged-rock sound?

Nathan Gray
and Dylan Martorell
started Snawklor a
decade ago, doing extremely quiet electroacoustic music. They’re both great
artists and improvisers, their art and music bleed into each other. I joined
more recreantly on drums and my background is definitely in damaged rock, but
I've always been drawn to more exploratory music too. I'd started fooling round
with freeform percussion, no beats, I brought that approach to Snawklor. We
have done a lot of shows but no proper recording as a trio. Sometimes we sound
closer to Lightning Bolt or the Boredoms, sometimes ethereal free jazz and
psychic exotica.

To my ears at least I
can hear bits of Les Rallizes Denudes, Liquorball and Fuckin’ Flyin’ Aheads on
‘Future Eaters’, because in one way or another they all have this
mesmerizing/paranoid/noisy approach – do you listen to those bands at all?

Funny you mention Fuckin’ Flyin’ Aheads, Per introduced me to them when
we started playing. He'd heard traces of it too. I've never listened to
Liquorball but I'm a huge fan of Les Rallizes Denudes. Mizutani is THE guitar
anti hero.

What was the first
type of music that made an impression on you?

Hendrix and
Black Sabbath. Hendrix especially. When I was about six, I saw Sex Pistols on
TV one night and it scared the shit out of me. In my teens I was watching The
Year That Punk Broke with no knowledge of that unmentionable youth cultural
revolution of the '90s. Seeing Sonic Youth play Schizophrenia hit a chord, I
grew up around a lot of schizophrenic activity, it was great seeing that
captured in music.

Do you prefer playing
or recording?

You gotta be playing when you're recording, so I prefer
playing.

What was the setup
for the recording of ‘Future Eaters’?

An 8-track
reel to reel of Jensen's. Six mics. Three on the drums, one on the bass, and
one on the guitar. Vocals later. Very rough and ready set up, but Jensen has a
way. Did it at his place, above a psychologist’s practice. It was a renegade
recording in that we thought we might get away with a 7” before neighbours shut
us down. We managed to come out with this record. Almost all first takes, it
was a super easy all firing session. Done. Bang.

Can you talk about
“Your Memory Don’t Want You”, that one’s been one of my favs since streaming
the record….

I recorded
a demo of it years ago as Drunk Hands, a noisy instrumental version played on a
fuzzed out acoustic. I brought it back to the fold with Exhaustion. Most of
these songs relate to very personal experiences, put across in a broader way.
Its about black outs, memory and our relationships with consciousness.

Over here in the UK
music chain HMV just went into administration, now record buying is online or
via indie shops that have managed to survive…I was wondering what the current
state of record stores is in Australia?

Sounds very similar to what is happening here. It’s
shrinking all the time, with a few notable exceptions. Only a few stores are
lucky and smart enough to keep afloat. Small record stores that sell coffee and
awesome food are probably the way to go, here's looking at you Wooly Bully

You have your
own label Endless Melt – I was wondering what you’ve found to be the biggest
challenge with running a label these days?

It’s a
micro label of marginal music, a labour of love. It often costs me money to
sell something. Luckily I don't do much business or I'd have to shut it down.

How do you manage to
sustain being in bands and doing a label?

I work. I spent a long time on the dole living the dream of
a rock n roll youth, but everything is so expensive now and the dole hasn’t
really increased. I have a family now too. It'd be very hard to get by without
a job.

How would you spend
your ideal day off?

I would do nothing at all. Ideally, I would do
everything I wanted to do.

Your new album is
coming out imminently – what else do you have planned for 2013?

Jensen has
an artist residency in Sydney for a few months come late March. Hopefully we'll
do a show up there. We're all a bit older now, touring isn’t a priority,
more a holiday. We all have several bands, jobs, Per and me have families.
We'll roll with the punches. I predict we'll have a new album recorded by the
end of the year, release it by early next year, and a 7" in between. Put a
fiver on it.

A question I
always finish on “I’m full of dust and guitars” – Syd Barrett, if you were
sliced in half what would be inside?

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Tyvek have been turning heads since their first album in 2007 'Fast Metabolism' (What's Your Rupture). After a few lineup changes and a load of releases, the Detroit outfit continue to prove to be at the forefront of punk today. 'On Triple Beams' is their fourth album, second for In The Red, that sees Tyvek tightening things up whilst staying rough around the edges. This new album captures what many already know about the band, that they focus on frustrations rooted in the humdrum of daily life. Tyvek share a fondness of turning the banal upside down with muses Wire and Wipers, whilst bringing something fresh and radical to the table. The record kicks off with "Scaling" featuring Kevin's signature tannoy system effect vocals - chewy guitars, stomping bass and ramshackle rhythms all forging regulated chaos where Tyvek are as carefree as they are careful. It's this state of being on edge and strung out that denotes their raucous approach, wonderfully shown on the ballistic "Little Richard". My other favourite track is "Efficiency", taking a swipe at the tedium of every day life with grinding guitars and one repetitive beat against a backdrop of discordant noise accompanied by Kevin's monotoned holler, "Efficiency is boring...". After spending a lot of time with the Tyvek back catalogue this album reveals, to me at least, how the band continue to go from strength to strength. 'On Triple Beams' is another great record for the Tyvek cannon - really worth your time.